Speech, debate team competes at state

Sammartino earns 4th place in Student Congress

March 24, 2017

Four Boardman High School Speech Team members qualified and competed in the Ohio High School Speech League State Tournament March 2-4 at Berea-Midpark and Olmsted Falls High Schools.

The tournament featured the best competitors across Ohio. Boardman juniors Matthew Ellis and Pranav Padmanabhan advanced to the quarter-final round in Student Congress.

Most notably, senior Richard Sammartino advanced to the final round in Student Congress, earning him fourth in state - a huge accomplishment since Student Congress had 215 competitors.

"We are all so proud of our team's accomplishments, and we are especially proud of our OHSSL state finalist, Richard Sammartino," coach Elisabeth Miller said. "We are thrilled that his hard work and tenacity throughout the season paid off for him in this impressive achievement as a senior at the state tournament."

The 2016-17 Boardman High School Speech and Debate Team has 14 members who competed in a wide variety of categories, ranging from acting and speech writing to debate and student congress.